Meta’s Threads app is experimenting with a new way to boost hashtag usage, according to findings uncovered by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi. This represents a potential shift from Threads’ initial stance of moving away from the traditional hashtag format when it introduced tags last November.

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The tests, which are still in an early phase, involve reminders in the composer flow to encourage hashtag adoption. Threads may also add the “#” marker before tags, departing from its current approach of displaying tags without the hash symbol prefix.

According to Social Media Today, when Threads launched its tag feature, it intentionally limited how many tags users could include with each post to prevent tag spamming. The team also made the deliberate decision to exclude the “#” hashtag formatting that has been widely used on other social platforms.

The leaked tests suggest that Threads is now considering leveraging hashtags to better align conversations with interested users’ interests. Given the short, real-time nature of Threads posts, this could potentially require more specific context signals for the app’s algorithms to filter and sort content properly.

This aligns with comments from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri that while hashtags offer little direct engagement benefit, they can still help categorize posts for relevant communities. Other platforms like LinkedIn have also noted that modern algorithms rely less on hashtags by accounting for more contextual cues.

As of now, the Threads team has not provided any official guidance regarding the apparent hashtag revival tests.